Discussion

Sushi Sho to Reopen in El Cerrito

My neighborhood newsletter states, "Akitoshi Kawata, owner Sushi Sho, 26 yrs. on Solano Avenue is moving to 10749 San Pablo" next to Big O Tire, 1 1/2 blocks north of Moeser. I never tried it on Solano but had heard some very good reviews.Does anyone have more information?

When the old location opened over 20 years ago, Aki-San had another sushi chef behind the counter with him, another in the kitchen, 2 food servers, plus a dishwasher in the kitchen. Over the decades, as his rent increased along with other costs, his margins got smaller so he scaled back to just him and his wife doing the all the buying, prep, service, and clean-up. While his offerings were no longer all inclusive, I found his sushi and hospitality to always be wonderful and gracious.

I went approximately 40 times in my 2 years living in Albany... 1 word: Phenomenal. Ultra-traditional, nigri/sashimi only. The fish is as fresh as it gets and Aki-san just takes so much pride in his food. His unagi, grilled to order over a habachi, would easily be my death row meal. He also smokes his own salmon and brews his own shoyu sauce, I believe. If you're in a hurry or have a palette geared towards American sushi, this would not be the right place. Your meal will take at least two hours and you'll wait a very long time to take a seat and almost as long for the first bite of food -- but it'll be transformational. Better than the Michelin 2-star Urasawa in LA in terms of sashimi & nigri IMO.

Do any of you know if he's actually opened? I'll have to give him a call... I'm stuck in LA right now for business school, but I'm not joking when I say I'll fly up for a weekend to eat there one more time and give my heartfelt thanks to Aki-san and his wife for all the amazing meals I've been privileged to eat at Sushi Sho on Solano and great conversations I've shared with him and their other guests around the bar.

Reading this post made my day (even my week). That’s such wonderful news. It was our favorite place for sushi. The only negative thing about it was it was challenging to get seated because it was so popular and small. The sushi was always super high quality delicious and I liked the atmosphere. Aki-san could be stern, and while this was off-putting to some, there was a genuineness and warmth in the restaurant and in Aki-san himself that is lacking in most restaurants. And some of our most entertaining and memorable non-food restaurant experiences were watching his interactions with unseasoned newbies.

I was in Berkeley this week and stopped by Monterey Fish Market on Hopkins only to discover that Aki-san serves sushi there on Saturdays!!!! Its a shame I had to leave before the weekend but I'll be back in a month and definitely be there on a Saturday for his sushi!

Unfortunately I don't know... I stopped there on a Friday before my flight out :-( They had a poster saying they serve sushi by Aki on Saturdays so I asked the guys there if it was indeed Aki from Sushi Sho and they confirmed yes!

I was in 2 weeks ago to buy fish and while they were sampling 2 rolls (spicy tuna and a simple avocado) with some items in the case, I did not see anyone preparing or serving sushi - maybe he was taking a break? It was about 2:30. I did sample the rolls and thought they were average, rice too soft and the nori damp - perhaps they had been prepared way in advance. The set up seemed to be for takeout only; no chairs, crowded with customers there to buy fish and the deli like set up.

Okay, please explain to me why there is such a cult following of Sushi Sho. I don't get it. I've been there several times in the last few years and have always thought that the food was okay, nothing great. I've sat at the bar and ordered a variety of sushi and specials, and have ordered entrees off the menu. It's fair but nothing like what people are describing. What am I missing? I think Taki Sushi a few miles away is far superior in terms of freshness, value and overall quality.

Are you sure you are talking about the same place? To me the quality of the sushi at Sushi sho was always at the highest standard you could expect. Everything I ate there was very good to excellent with 90% of the things being excellent. Nothing could beat the fluke sashimi and he always managed to get his hands on bluefin Toro that was much better than anyplace around. It was the best Sushi in the Bay Area (at least in my opinion). And Aki San and his wife were great fun. I miss them.

The only thing that might be considered an entree on the menu that I can recall is the hamachi kama (Aki-San grilled it back in the kitchen), and I really miss his preparation. (Other places seem to believe grill the collar too much, turning it into inedible charcoal on the outside and very overcooked flesh on the inside.)

My mistake. Just looked them up on yelp and google, not the same place I was thinking. Hmm, I thought that was the name of the restaurant but guess not. This explains a lot. Now I'm looking forward to the new place to open so I can experience what everyone is writing about!

Ugh, my salivary glands went into overdrive when I read the title. Since moving back to the East Bay (Montclair) from San Mateo, I've been missing the easy access I'd had to upper echelon places like Sakae, Sushi Sam's & Yuzu. Uzen is good IMO but has a limited menu. Sushi Sho reopening would've had me rearranging my schedule so I could get there at least once a week.

I feel like the lady in the Mervyn's commercial from years ago......."open open open!!!"